"Alright, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, you're next."

Both boys stepped into the circle that represented the limits of the sparring ring and glared at each other. Their teacher, Umino Iruka, glanced between them, expression stern. "Come on now," he demanded, a tinge of exasperation in his tone, "you two have done this enough times to know what's expected. Each spar begins with the Seal of Confrontation—"

Glares frozen in place, the two 10-year-olds brought their right arms up, lifting their pointer and middle fingers so the tips were even with their chins. Iruka nodded in acknowledgment. "Good. Now—"

"Begin!" Naruto shouted, rushing the dark-haired boy. Sasuke didn't move, waiting until the blond was almost upon him before ducking a straight jab and throwing an uppercut into the charging boy's stomach. Naruto gasped, and Sasuke followed up by slamming his fist into the boy's jaw, followed by a flip-kick that laid him out on his back, trying to catch his breath.

"Well done, Sasuke," Iruka praised. "Now, come together and make the Seal of Reconciliation—"

"Not a chance!" Naruto snapped hoarsely, finding his voice again. "That bastard cheated, I know it!"

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted, temper flaring. "You lost because you can't read the flow of battle! Blindly attacking your opponent is not the way to win. Now make the Seal of Reconciliation with Sasuke—"

"Screw that!"

"DETENTION!"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at his teacher, eyebrows furrowed in a scowl. Punishment or not, anything was better than admitting defeat to the stuck-up Uchiha. I'll show you one day, he swore. You'll see.

-l-l-l-

"So kid, how goes the training?"

Jiraiya's sudden interruption caused his chakra to flare, and the spherical balloon he held in his right hand blew apart. "Aw, come on!"

"Still having trouble, eh? Not everyone can keep it up for long periods of time."

There was a sly tone in the older man's voice that felt…icky…so the blond decided to ignore whatever he was trying to imply. After what seemed like weeks of Jiraiya being too busy for him, he could finally ask for advice. "I don't get it, Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto admitted, trying and failing to disguise the annoyed whine in his voice. "What am I doin' wrong?"

"Ah, well, that's for you to figure out on your own," the Sannin advised in a tone implying sage wisdom, "as is honored tradition. Minato didn't offer me any advice when I learned, and he spent three years creating it on his own. The struggle is part of the journey."

Naruto frowned at him for his uselessness, but then his expression became pensive. Minato… He'd heard that name before, and in an important context, but—

"What's the matter, kid? You look confused as I've ever seen you."

"Minato," he replied absently, voice quiet.

"Hm?"

"Minato," he repeated louder. "It sounds familiar, but I can't think of where I've heard it before…" His brows knit further together in a tight 'v' as he wracked his brain. History was never something he'd paid close attention to, barring the stories about the Fourth Hokage, and— "Oh! He's my dad!" And suddenly his excitement at remembering why the name was so significant flowed over into what he was learning. "You're teaching me my dad's jutsu?!"

Jiraiya looked…well, gobsmacked was probably the right word. He'd seen the same expression on Utakata's face a handful of times during training, and Rōshi had called it that. "How do you know that?"

"Oh, Rōshi-oji and Utakata-nii told me when we met." For how much he'd struggled to recall it, the memory was suddenly clear in his mind's eye. Utakata had been telling him about Jinchūriki and Bijū, about how the story of the Yondaime's defeat of the Kyūbi was a fairytale invented by the Hidden Leaf's higher-ups, and then they'd told him not to…tell anyone…

Ah crap…

Well, there was no going back at this point. And Jiraiya had apparently learned from the Fourth! He couldn't remember if the white-haired man had mentioned that during their travels, but if he had, it had likely escaped his attention at the time. It wouldn't now. "Did you know the Yondaime?" he asked, his body practically vibrating with excitement. "What was he like? Did you know my mom, too? What was she like?"

"Woah, slow down, kid," Jiraiya said, holding a hand up to forestall the blond's rapid-fire questions. "One at a time. Let's see, where to begin…" he mused, pointer finger tapping his chin in thought. "Well, Minato was a natural genius; learned everything I taught him quick as a flash. Not that that's how he got his nickname, but it was definitely applicable to more than just the battlefield—"

"I don't care about that stuff," Naruto interrupted, "I wanna know what they were like."

His blue eyes were beseeching, desperate with a longing for knowledge he'd been denied for too many years. The corner of Jiraiya's mouth quirked slightly, brown eyes softening with fondness. "Fair enough. Well, your dad was one of the bravest people I knew, and he always fought to defend the people he cared about. When he and your mom were Genin, some Kumo-nin kidnapped her, and Minato tracked them down by following strands of hair she'd left behind and rescued her. I guess it was quite the romantic gesture," the Sannin added with a smirk.

"Her hair?" Naruto asked, again ignoring the older man's sly aside.

"Your mom had beautiful, long, straight red hair, like a ripe tomato. It was a really common trait among the Uzumaki, and it caught your dad hook, line, and sinker."

Naruto frowned. "But…I'm an Uzumaki, and I don't have red hair…" He ran a hand through his blond locks as if to drive home the point, expression morose. Such a distinctive trait of his family, and he hadn't gotten it? Feels kinda like I don't belong.

Jiraiya placed a hand atop the boy's head, drawing blue eyes back to him, and ruffled the spiky strands. "Win some, lose some, kid. If it's any consolation, you're a lot like her." Naruto's head cocked to the side, silently asking for him to elaborate. "You both act before thinking things through, you're stubborn, you never shut up, and you both get really animated when you think you know best. Which, by the way, is way too often."

The blond rubbed beneath his nose with a finger, eyes closed and grin wide, clearly embarrassed. "Heheh, really?"

"Oh yeah. Thanks to her temper and her hair, everyone used to call her the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. You have her face, you know. Minato's eyes and hair, of course, but everything else is all Kushina. Except your loyalty – that you get from both of them." He patted the boy on the head, offering him a wide smile. "They loved you with everything they had. Never forget that."

"Why did they—" he swallowed the question, hesitation nakedly written across his face. "If they loved me, why did they put the Kyūbi inside me? Why does everyone else hate me?"

"Ah." Jiraiya's jovial expression fell, solemnity in every feature. "That I can't answer. Not being here when the Kyūbi attacked is one of my greatest regrets."

"Rōshi-oji and Utakata-nii said that Jinchūriki are chosen so they'll be loyal to the village."

"They probably have a point. Other villages— no, sorry, all the villages see Jinchūriki as weapons, and every Kage is responsible for seeing that their village is protected as it can be. Even Konoha…" he paused, took a shuddering breath, and continued, "I've seen your seal, Naruto, and it's different from your mom's. She was the Jinchūriki before you." The Sannin pushed past his student's open-mouthed shock, trying to explain as much as he could before he was interrupted. "No, I don't know why she was chosen, and I can't explain what Konoha was thinking, but I know for a fact that Minato and Kushina would never have done what they did if they didn't think you could handle it.

"Minato…he trusted you with a power that even Kushina never had. Most Jinchūriki simply contain their Bijū, maybe tap into the Bijū's attributes, but your seal is meant to allow you to use the Kyūbi's power as your own, transform it directly into strength. I knew Minato, and he wouldn't have done that unless it was completely necessary. He loved the village, and would have done anything to protect it, but he loved you and your mom so much more. If you could have seen him when he told me he was gonna be a dad…" Jiraiya shook his head, grinning to himself. "Kid, the words don't exist to convey how happy he was. I hope one day you're able to understand that feeling. Maybe then you'll understand what they did."

Naruto sniffled, using his sleeve to wipe his face. Jiraiya was pointedly watching a nearby pair of birds, allowing the blond a moment of privacy. When he was once more in control of himself, the blond asked, "Do you think so? But Sakura-chan never wants to go out with me!"

"Ah, one of those girls." The older man turned a grin toward his student. "You know, Tsunade was much the same with me when we were growing up. And now look at us."

"Er, doesn't she hate you?"

"There's a very thin line between love and hate, kid." At the blond's confused look, he coughed and added, "Buuut…it's possible that you're barkin' up the wrong tree." Naruto frowned at that, the idea somehow unfathomable. "You're young, you've got time. Maybe try focusing on your ninjutsu first, and when you finally figure out the Rasengan, then you can figure out how to treat yourself to a reward."

Naruto blinked. "Reward?"

Jiraiya let out a long-suffering sigh, shaking his head with a bemused chuckle. "Ahh, so naïve. You'll learn someday."

"It feels like it's takin' forever," the blond grumbled.

"That might be the case, but good things come to those who wait." At Naruto's annoyed scowl, the Sannin let out an amused snort. "Heh, you're still full of spirit. That's good. Remember that when you go up against someone who thinks they're better than you. I always did, and look where I am now."

Naruto eyed the older man speculatively, measuring his worth. "Yeah…" he agreed slowly, deeming his (sometimes) teacher to be a worthwhile role model, "yeah, okay! So what's next?"

"Keep practicing. And when the time comes, I'll help you beat down the Kyūbi worse than Minato did."

"What about now?"

"You have other things to work on now," Jiraiya pointed out, "and there are plenty of people better suited than me to teach you those things. When you're ready, we'll start working on getting you to the next level. In the meantime, good things come to those who wait."

Naruto let out a huff, but then held out his hand palm-up. Jiraiya tossed him another round balloon, and the blond's attention fixed itself on the sphere. Tongue poking out from between his teeth, chakra swirling within the balloon, he could feel—

Bang!

"Damn it!"

-l-l-l-

"Take a ready stance."

Naruto planted his feet and angled his body so his left side was forward, knees bent slightly and arms cocked at chest height with fists curled. His periphery caught Gaara, standing several feet to his left, glance at him and ape his posture.

Han snorted, and only months of dealing with Rōshi made the blond think that it reflected bemusement more than anything else. "You've really never thrown a punch, have you? I thought I was being hyperbolic, but apparently not."

"It was not necessary before," the redhead noted, seemingly unaffected by the Iwa-nin's analysis. "It is now. I require help."

"Clearly," Han deadpanned. "Who makes it through the Academy without becoming even slightly proficient at taijutsu?" he groused. Gaara opened his mouth to respond, but the giant held up a hand to forestall him. "No, don't answer that, it was rhetorical. Do you not understand inflection?"

"No."

"Fantastic. Well, you can relax for now. If we're starting from scratch, I'm not teaching you Rōshi's shitty taijutsu." Naruto watched the redhead relaxed back into a stiff standing position, his teal eyes never leaving the armored shinobi. It wasn't obvious, but Gaara's stoicism seemed different somehow. A week ago, his monotone had been angry, even desperate. His tone when he'd accused Naruto of lying to him had been so fraught with the insinuation of Naruto's complicity that the blond had expected him to lash out, threaten to kill him, a reversion to the boy who'd been grudgingly dragged across the Land of Fire in search of a woman he couldn't care less about.

But now he seemed…calm? Well, he always kind of came off that way, but now it felt more like…

He didn't know how to describe it. Gaara wasn't grumpy like Rōshi or gentle like Utakata, or even casually ambivalent like some of his friends back at the Academy. Most of the time he was just…present. Watching. It might've felt invasive if the redhead was even aware of how he came off to others. But the weight of the Suna-nin's stare felt…judgmental. He always seemed to listen, but he never seemed to hear, to understand.

Whatever was going on in the Suna-nin's head, he hadn't expected the other boy to interfere in his fight with Han. The idea that he was maybe getting through to the Sand Genin sent a shiver of hope down his spine. He'd been trying since before they'd even been formally introduced to get the redhead on his side – on their side, the alliance of Jinchūriki that Utakata had told him was so important without really explaining why. After Rōshi and Utakata had taken him into their confidence and doted on him full-time, it was gratifying to finally be able to contribute to their mission.

He squirmed with excitement at the thought, and the movement drew Han's scrutiny, his pupil-less brown eyes seeming to judge him. "At least you're centered well," he noted gruffly.

"Well, Rōshi-oji's a pretty tough sensei."

"I wouldn't know," the Iwa-nin snapped. Naruto visibly startled at giant's tone, and Han slipped his right hand beneath his gi and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. After several seconds, he opened his eyes and fixed the blond with a hard stare. "What he put you through will pale in comparison to this."

If it hadn't been for the months of training with Rōshi, who had presented all the same rough edges and intimidation tactics that Han now seemed to be employing, Naruto might have paused at the armored shinobi's warning. As it was, listening to Han try to scare him didn't seem all that different from every other day of training with his fellow Jinchūriki. "Bring it on, Han-san, I can take it."

"Hmph. You've got guts, kid, I'll give you that."

Naruto grinned; Jiraiya said that to him a lot, and it always sounded like a compliment.

"What exactly are you planning on doing to him?"

Han turned his head so he could see Utakata, who was sitting near the koi pond, watching them all. "Train him in taijutsu, like I said."

"Don't you have any methods that aren't just an excuse to beat someone else up?"

"Taijutsu is learned through exchanging blows." The Iwa-nin's tone allowed no argument. "The boy doesn't have a problem with my methods, why do you?"

"I don't believe that beating someone until they break is how to train someone! I've seen what it does to the shinobi of Kiri—"

"Turn them into whiny cowards, by my estimate," Han interjected.

"Utakata-nii, I can do this!"

The brunet turned to the blond and offered him a tentative smile. "It's not that you can't. I just think there's a better way." He returned his attention to Han and asked, "Can't you teach him Futton? He knows Suiton and Katon, and I've seen what Futton specialists can do in Kiri—"

"He is already being taught ninjutsu," the Iwa-nin argued, "and if you couldn't tell, my specialty does not focus on utilizing Futton like others might." He grabbed his left forearm with his right hand, left hand clenched into a fist, and rotated it, appearing to prepare for a fight. "If he wishes to learn how to use Futton as I do, then he'll need this." The plates of his armor clinked with every move, a mocking chorus of applause. "In the meantime, a proper punch is the best he can hope for."

"You're so…defeatist," Utakata replied quietly. "Futton is more than what you use it for. I'm telling you, I've seen it before—"

"Then perhaps you have something worthwhile to teach after all," Han grunted, "and I leave his Futton training in your capable hands. Until then, if you're so afraid for the boy, you can serve as his punching bag."

"Ah—"

"You sought to learn as well, did you not?" Han posed, sarcasm dripping from every word. "This way should alleviate any concerns that he will not be harmed while also teaching you. Is that not a win-win?"

Utakata stood with a sigh. "You Iwa-nin certainly have a way about you."

Han made a noise that might have been a grunt of agreement. "You're a fool if you thought I was going to fight him again as a first lesson. How can I effectively correct his taijutsu if I'm the target of his strikes?"

"But you—" the brunet spluttered.

"You were the presumptuous one," the armored shinobi accused. "Rōshi and I are not the same. I do not appreciate the implication that we are."

Utakata had the fair grace to look ashamed. "Ah. My apologies."

Another grunt, Han's brown eyes following the Kiri-nin as he took his place across from Naruto.

The blond's eyes finally stopped ping-ponging between the arguing pair, settling on the brunet teenager before him. Utakata had always been a little protective of him, and in the beginning, Naruto had appreciated his intervention because Rōshi had been…difficult, and having someone who seemed to actually like him – especially after having dealt with the villagers' dislike – was nice.

But then Rōshi's attitude had decreased from a rolling boil to a low simmer, and the youngest Jinchūriki had gotten used to his training, and the brunet's need to provide a buffer had faded. Now though, there were new people – new Jinchūriki! he thought excitedly – and the whole process was starting anew, except this time, Naruto knew what to expect.

Or, well…mostly. Han had just said he wasn't Rōshi, and he supposed it wasn't fair to compare the two, even if their training and attitudes so far seemed pretty much the same. Either way, after months of training day in and day out, slowly growing stronger and being able to see the results, he was glad for every opportunity to learn something new, to keep pushing himself.

How else was he going to become the strongest Hokage?

Which made it so weird that Utakata was back to being defensive. It had been his idea to train the blond in the first place, so it stood to reason that anything that could be done to make him stronger was a good thing. And Naruto had already proven he could take whatever the older Jinchūriki could dish out, so the brunet's hesitation felt misplaced.

Maybe it had something to do with his friend, Yagura? It wouldn't have been the first time the Kiri-nin had been cagey about something because of his past, and bringing up the absent Mizukage was a surefire way to throw the bubble-user off his game, though Naruto didn't fully understand why.

Yagura was special, that much he knew. To be both a Jinchūriki and a Kage? That alone made him an inspiration to the blond, and they'd never even met. But to know that there was someone else like him – burdened by something beyond his control – who had risen through the ranks to become the leader of his village, a figure revered by those he protected, and someone Utakata looked up to, was all he needed to know.

He'd always admired the Fourth Hokage, but knowing the man was gone and being unable to meet his hero was discouraging. That was even more true now with the knowledge that the man was his father.

But he had a chance to actually meet Yagura and learn how he'd become such a great Kage, and to do that, he was willing to do whatever it took.

Of course, when that would happen was anyone's guess, since whatever danger Yagura was in still existed. That was probably why Utakata always seemed so jumpy, he reasoned.

Blue eyes wide with wonder watched the brunet. Who can threaten a Kage, though? Neither Utakata nor Rōshi were very forthcoming with any details, and they'd kept him too busy to think of asking. Maybe a Bijū? he mused, thinking of his father, or even his own fight against Gaara.

"Quit daydreaming."

Naruto looked up, his neck craning uncomfortably far back to meet Han's hard eyes. "I was just thinkin'."

"Which apparently requires significant effort." Naruto scowled in response, biting his tongue to stop a verbal retort. Rōshi liked to jab him with little insults as well, and Naruto had learned (although not always remembered) that not reacting deprived the redhead of the enjoyment he got from riling him up. Han apparently didn't care, for he continued with a gesture at Utakata, "Attack him like he's an enemy, and we'll go from there."

The blond hesitated for a moment, but Utakata bobbed his head once, lips quirked as if to say it was okay, and so he charged forward—

"Hrk!"

His back hit the ground, hard. Something had grabbed the scruff of his collar mid-step and yanked, momentarily choking off his airway and laying him supine. Han appeared in his vision immediately, shaking his head. "Do you always do exactly what you're told, without ever questioning it?"

"No!"

"And yet you were going to charge into a fight against a clearly superior opponent with no plan."

"You told me to!" Han arched an eyebrow, and Naruto realized the contradiction with his previous question. "Oh…" He rose to his feet, one hand rubbing at his throat where his jacket had choked him. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"Before you run headlong into a battle, you analyze your opponent to the best of your ability. He is older, bigger, and stronger than you," Han listed, "which means that you are automatically disadvantaged in a physical battle. And that's without knowing that he can cover his skin with acid." The giant turned to Utakata. "Your abilities are similar to Rōshi's, I don't see why you don't just have him train you."

Utakata coughed, admitting almost sheepishly, "I tried. He's very…resistant…to helping others."

Han snorted, sounding wryly amused. "Yes, I'm aware. Some things never change."

"Rōshi-oji trained me," Naruto pointed out, mildly offended by the sleight to his teacher.

"Unless or until you wield Yōton like he does, what he taught you is inefficient. The reason it works for Rōshi is because a touch is debilitating. Same for your friend over there," he added with a jerk of his head towards Utakata. "Perhaps he taught you how to fight, but this is taijutsu, which involves analyzing your situation and countering or attacking as appropriate. You are small and inexperienced; charging blindly into battle is stupid."

"I'm not—!" he began, heated refusal in every syllable, but something in the giant's description gave him pause. A memory struck him, a younger version of himself running at Uchiha Sasuke while their classmates and teacher watched, a fist raised to telegraph his assault, and in the next moment, him flat on his back on the ground, the wind knocked out of his lungs. If it had been once or twice, he might have brushed it off, but now that he thought about it, every spar against Sasuke had ended similarly.

And it wasn't just Sasuke. Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, Mochizuki Minoji…he'd never really beaten any of them in the Academy spars, and his approach had always been the same: attack, attack, attack, never think.

He nodded slowly, more to himself than to the Iwa-nin, but then locked eyes with the armored shinobi. "Yeah, I think I get it."

It didn't hurt as much as it used to in the beginning, to admit he didn't know everything, that his new teachers actually had something worthwhile to impart to him. He'd always said he was the greatest, would be the best Hokage, and carrying that boast around gave him a sort of intrinsic self-worth that he didn't actually need anything the Academy taught him. And Iruka's focus on book-learning certainly hadn't helped in trying to impart a wisdom Naruto had already been reluctant to learn.

So it made sense that, as Rōshi and Utakata had focused their attention on him, sometimes using him as a (painful) example in their lessons, he'd taken that knowledge with the bittersweet realization that he was not nearly as good as he thought himself.

But he was getting better. That was enough to temper the boasts that burned in his mouth, the falsehoods of his own greatness, globules of lava he wanted to spit out but was forced to swallow instead and accept that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't as great as he thought himself, though he one day would be.

Han grunted. "Good." He turned to look at Utakata, and with a jerk of his head toward the blond, said, "You, attack him. You'll defend and seek an opening to counterattack," he told Naruto. "Begin when ready."

Utakata charged and Naruto waited, looking for the movement that would bely the brunet's first strike.

-l-l-l-

"So how's yer trainin' goin'?"

"Good!" Naruto's voice was high with cheer, and Rōshi quickly quashed the scowl of envy that any Jinchūriki could ever be so happy. "Han-san says I'm learning." He made a movement the redhead's periphery vaguely attributed to the Gobi Jinchūriki's fighting style.

"So I see," the Iwa-nin replied with droll enthusiasm, attention focused on his clasped hands, molten magma encasing them.

"Rōshi-oji," Naruto whined. The Iwa-nin could picture the pout that adorned the Leaf native's lips. "You're not even watching!"

"When yer as good as me, yeh don' need ter stare ter see things." The heat shrouding his hands flared suddenly, prompting Rōshi to curse aloud.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Enjoyin' th' time ter myself," he grumbled. He opened his hands and found a misshapen lump of dark rock. "Ahh, can't believe I let yeh distract me."

"From what?"

"I gave yer frien—th' Ichibi Jinchūriki somethin' o' mine. Easy enough ter replace with th' right materials an' focus." He shot the blond an annoyed look, though it lacked any real heat.

Naruto nodded in understanding, though he couldn't say he really understood at all. "Do you wanna train?"

One red eyebrow arched skeptically. "An' what d'yeh think yeh can teach me, eh?"

"Not to be so grumpy all the time," he replied cheekily. Rōshi looked vaguely amused in the kind of sour way Naruto had grown used to, and the blond bit back his boast that the redhead could learn from the greatest Hokage that ever would be. It was best not to push the Four-Tails' jailor too far. "I mean can you train me in Yōton? You know, since I can do it now."

Rōshi barked a laugh. "Yeh did it once—"

"Twice!" Naruto protested.

"—an' yeh think that makes yeh an expert?"

"No, but that's what you're for, right?"

"An' Han's jus' lettin' yeh ditch 'im?"

Naruto scratched the side of his head with a finger, visibly embarrassed. "Heheh, well, he kinda…got tired of us? Said he needed a break from Gaara, Utakata-nii, and me after bein' stuck with us for a week. Then he kinda…stormed off?"

"Sounds 'bout right," Rōshi muttered. "Aye, fine, if yeh want somethin' ter do, I s'pose we can train. So, what d'yeh remember 'bout when yeh used Yōton?"

"Um, I dunno. I was kinda mad…and out of ideas. It was the only thing I could think of that might work."

"Aye, yeh can do a lot when yer desperate. Yeh can't rely on that though. Yeh got ter learn how ter use it 'til it's like breathin'. Use it."

"You mean now?"

"Aye, now."

Naruto's face scrunched together in a facsimile of pain, trying to summon a flicker of anger alongside the stubbornness that was the hallmark of Earth Release. It was hard, he decided, to try to be angry when there was no reason for it—

"What're yeh doin'?"

The blond opened one eye to peer at Rōshi. "Tryin' to get mad."

"None o' that," the redhead retorted, tone sharp as a kunai. "Yeh know how ter use Katon, aye?" Naruto gave a quick nod, and he continued, "An' yeh can use Doton, aye?"

"Aye," Naruto repeated, and then realized he sounded uncomfortably like the older Jinchūriki and said, "I mean, right!"

"Then yeh don' need any o' that emotion crap. Since chakra's physical an' mental energy, we got yer mental energy – yer emotions – ter guide th' chakra nature ter start yeh off. Now that yeh've done it, yeh should be able ter use 'em any time."

"Oh, you mean like how Han-san talks about muscle memory?"

"Aye, somethin' like that." He kneeled, placing a palm on the ground, and felt the roiling magma of the mantle beneath him. Its blazing heat and glacial glide of the crust above were like old friends, the only friends he'd ever known, and something deep within him felt at peace at their reunion.

With a bit of earth manipulation, he summoned a chunk of sedimentary rock from the depths and into his palm. He held out his hand, gesturing for Naruto to take the rock, and the blond reached out, recoiling when the dissipating heat proved too intense. "If yeh can use Yōton, yeh got nothin' ter fear."

Naruto steeled his resolve, reaching out and grabbing the proffered chunk with no hesitation. Warmth suffused his hand, but it was a gentle heat. Shouldn't it be hotter? he wondered.

"Feels good, aye?" Naruto nodded, and the redhead continued, "Cover it with yer hands." He brought his own hands together, cupped so there was a pocket of space between them. Naruto copied the gesture, his cupped hands held before him, the rock hidden from view. "If yeh can turn that ter a gem, yeh can use Yōton."

"How do I do that?"

"Heat an' pressure. Katon an' Doton." Naruto nodded again, blue eyes fixated on his hands, staring with such intensity that he half-expected his appendages to spontaneously combust. "An' time," Rōshi added dryly, sounding bemused.

"What doesn't?" the blond muttered, annoyed, thinking of how the Rasengan seemed to be permanently out of reach.

Rōshi clapped him on the shoulder in a rare gesture of camaraderie. "Yeh'll git it. Yer too stubborn not ter."

Naruto grinned at the compliment. "Thanks Rōshi-oji."

-l-l-l-

Naruto blocked Utakata's horizontal chop, pushing the limb to the side and then striking out with a kick to the teenager's solar plexus. The brunet hopped backwards, avoiding the shorter boy's reach, and then dashed forward to take advantage of the blond's extension.

The younger Jinchūriki had already reset himself to a defensive stance, however, and he sidestepped the Kiri-nin's charge, laying a foot out to trip him. Utakata stumbled, but rolled with the motion, springing up several feet away before the blond could capitalize on the moment. He bobbed his head in acknowledgement of the move, and Naruto allowed a grin to split his lips.

"Good maneuver."

Han's deep voice was measured, even curt, but Naruto had gotten used to his observational nonchalance over the past several weeks, and he turned his bright smile to the giant. "Yeah, I'm doin' pretty good, huh, Han-san?"

The armored shinobi merely stared, brown eyes piercing, and Naruto didn't let the lack of assurance bother him; Rōshi had been much the same at first, and the taller Iwa-nin was still new to the group, so the blond figured he got a pass. "If you think so, then I suppose we should make this more difficult. You may now use ninjutsu."

"Uhh…" Naruto turned to look at Utakata, who now appeared to be a little too pleased at having this restriction lifted.

"Suiton: Teppōdama!"

Naruto leaped away from the incoming water ball, resorting to evasive tactics Han had begun drilling into him to dodge the barrage of liquid projectiles Utakata sent his way. His fingers flipped through seals before he skidded to a halt and slapped his palms to the ground with a cry of, "Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!"

The earthen wall that flipped up took the brunt of an incoming Gunshot technique, allowing him a moment to plan his next move. His defense crumbled under the force of a hail of water, but he'd already activated the Substitution Technique, reappearing in a crouch several feet behind the older Jinchūriki where a rock had been. He ran at Utakata, looking to get close and knock him out with a hard blow to the back of the head.

He struck a barrier three feet behind the brunet, struggling against something unseeable and elastic. "Huh?"

Utakata's neck craned just enough for the blond to see the edge of an over-the-shoulder grin, and then the bubble surrounding the teenager popped. Naruto was blown backwards by the force, though he quickly righted himself to a more favorable midair position. Han liked to say that midair was a terrible place to be without either power (like his own steam-enhanced taijutsu had) or surprise, and Naruto had neither, as his teacher had demonstrated again and again and again…

A tendril of water wrapped around his ankle, and Naruto could see it stretching back to Utakata's hand. The brunet's arm jerked, and the blond's body followed the movement, the Water Whip bringing him closer to its wielder. He focused chakra to his hands, resisting the urge to close his eyes in concentration – "Don't lose sight of your enemy in a fight!" Han criticized in his mind – and a red aura overcame the appendages.

A single touch evaporated a section of the whip, freeing Naruto, and he condensed the aura surrounding his hands into small fireballs that he pitched at the Kiri-nin. It wasn't yet Lava Release – he was still struggling with how to utilize both Doton and Katon at once, and it annoyed him that he couldn't tap into the chakra muscle memory of the two previous instances ("State o' mind," Rōshi had grunted when asked, after several days of struggling with the molten rock exercise) – but what he'd figured out so far was at least still useful.

Utakata swung the Water Whip overhead, intercepting the incoming fireballs, and Naruto took the brunet's distraction as an opportunity to weave signs and expel a Great Fireball at him. The Kiri-nin noticed the incoming attack and immediately backpedaled to get out of its trajectory.

Sand rose up in the path, and the fire ninjutsu dissipated harmlessly against it. Blue and golden eyes turned to find Gaara standing beside Han, arm extended towards them. The redhead appeared to stare at his outstretched limb in silent appraisal, fingers flexing experimentally and the sand mass undulating in response. "If you wished to fight, you would have been better doing something offensive while they were unaware," Han observed, deep voice dispassionate.

"I wish to understand what I am capable of in all capacities," Gaara intoned. Teal eyes flickered towards Naruto, and for a moment, the blond was reminded of the weight the Suna-nin's heavy gaze carried – the thrill of the fight, the madness of a senseless purpose, the promise of death.

But none of that seemed apparent now; in fact, his stare seemed almost…docile, at least compared to how he'd used to look. There was a silent scrutiny in his teal gaze, as if he was analyzing the blond by some internal metric Naruto was clueless to.

And then the spell was broken, and Gaara's hand angled towards the blond, the sand following his command. "Hey!" Naruto shouted, focus on avoiding the silica, "shouldn't this be illegal or somethin'? Two on one's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair," Han retorted, "and real shinobi do not obey codes of ethics in battle."

"You suck!" Water worked last time, he thought quickly. Another round of hand signs, chakra building in his gut, and then— "Suiton: Mizurappa!"

The Wild Water Wave drenched the pursuing silica, and Naruto activated a Body Flicker to appear behind Gaara before either he or Utakata could react. Gaara wasn't good with taijutsu, so knocking him out should return the spar to one-on-one—

Gaara's arms crossed in an 'x' behind his head, thick bracers of sand protecting his head and neck from the blond's attempted chop. Naruto boggled at the move, a show of dexterity the Suna-nin's historical body language had not suggested him capable of. "Eh?!"

The Sand Genin mule-kicked him in the knee, eliciting a yelp from the blond, who immediately grasped the injured joint. Arms free, Gaara turned on the spot and drove a fist covered in sand – coarse grains shaped into sharp points on his knuckles – into the Kyūbi Jinchūriki's cheek. Naruto barely managed to turn away from the blow, allowing his left shoulder to soak the punch and rolling away from the redhead.

A blast of water struck him mid-roll, pushing him into an uncontrolled tumble over the ground. When he finally managed to slow his momentum, his knee was throbbing and his vision was spinning. I guess Han-san really taught Gaara taijutsu… Blue eyes flickered over to Utakata. And Utakata-nii is still stronger than me…

He wouldn't win like this. Han liked to talk about turning situations to one's advantage, which was part of why he taught reacting rather than blindly acting when working from a handicap, and Naruto was certainly there right now. He needed to disadvantage the other two Jinchūriki somehow.

His fingers worked through seals, the move still a fairly new addition to his repertoire. "Kirigakure no Jutsu," he muttered, a thick mist suffusing outward from him. Utakata's agape mouth disappeared from view, as did Gaara's penetrating stare, although a stream of sand still shot towards the blond through the enshrouding haze. Naruto erected a small wall with the Earth Shore Return to block the incoming silica, then crawled to his feet and silently snuck away from where his opponents had last seen him, thinking of his next move.

It wasn't steam, but the Hiding in Mist Technique was the closest thing to Futton that Han was willing to teach him. If Naruto could learn to fight in low-visibility conditions, Han had lectured in one of many one-on-one training sessions, he could leverage that to his advantage in most fights, which would make up for his limited physicality and lesser taijutsu.

He couldn't chakra-sense through the vapor (yet!) – although he'd at least become adequate at increasing his visual acuity while within the jutsu – but his penchant for escaping the consequences of pranking Konoha's villagers meant that he'd been able to adapt well to attacking stealthily, which the technique supported. Gaara had been nearest, and since the Suna-nin's normal strategy involved staying still, the blond decided it would be easiest to target him first.

Naruto stalked silently to where the Sand shinobi had last been standing, the mists swirling gently around him. The boy's stationary form finally appeared as a shadowy figure, and the blond continued prowling towards the Genin, eyes and ears perked for any sign of attack from either him or Utakata.

Something tiny and rough hit his skin when he was three feet away, a tiny pinprick that was annoying rather than hurtful, and then an arm of sand shot out in his direction. Naruto dove to the side, somersaulted to his feet, and backed away from the redhead, wary.

A whisper of wind next to his ear drew his attention, and the blond's attention turned momentarily to suss out the distraction. The mists swirled marginally with the next whisper, and Naruto grinned to himself as realization struck him – tiny sand particulates were rotating around Gaara, the redhead the eye of a localized dust devil, alerting him to any intrusion of his personal space. That was fine; if nothing else, Naruto knew how to create a distraction.

Two water clones – featureless but for their humanoid shape – formed from the surrounding vapor and snuck off through the haze. Naruto waited until the whoosh of sand attacking one of his duplicates reached his ears before rushing forward. He met no resistance, a hand dipping into his weapons' pouch as blood-red hair became visible. The Leaf native slammed the handle of his kunai into Gaara's skull, eliciting a grunt from the Suna-nin as he pitched forward.

The redhead taken care of, Naruto crept through the mist, looking for a hint of Utakata.

Pop.

Naruto froze at the innocuous sound, throwing himself to the ground as a tendril of water whipped towards him. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as it passed overhead, suddenly wary of where he could move with the Kiri-nin's bubbles spread invisibly throughout the mist, when moisture began to soak into his clothes and wet his palms. Huh?

The liquid rose quickly to smother him in a sphere of water before he could react, and Utakata stepped out of the mist with fingers holding the sign of the dog. "I think that's game," he said, smiling good-naturedly. Naruto frowned – more annoyed at his own misstep than the brunet's victory – and the chakra holding the mists together dissipated, taking the Hiding in Mist Technique with it. "Don't feel bad, Naruto. I'm a Jōnin, and I have some experience with fighting in the mist; you can't expect that you'll win every battle at this point. You're fighting really well, much better than when we started, wouldn't you say, Han?" he asked, turning to the approaching Iwa-nin.

The steam-user's gaze flickered between the pair of Jinchūriki, taking in the brunet's pointed look and Naruto's hopeful expression. "You're still learning," he grunted flatly.

Naruto beamed, internally translating Han's words to the same gruff, noncommittal praise Rōshi often uttered. "Hell yeah!"

"There's still more to do," Han continued. "You, too, boy," he called to Gaara, who'd risen to his feet. "Let's see what you two can do without interference."

-l-l-l-

"There's a problem that's just come to my attention which requires immediate action." Tsunade laced her fingers together and placed them under her nose, elbows resting on her desk. "Uchiha Sasuke has left the village. He's likely being assisted by a retinue of shinobi handpicked by Orochimaru."

"That's…why?"

"I've learned not to question Orochimaru's machinations. It's a safe bet to assume that, whatever the reason, it's to his interest, and therefore against Konoha's. Ultimately, it's irrelevant to the mission goal."

The dark-haired boy before her, barely a teenager, stared at the blonde with narrowed brown eyes. "I'm assuming you want Sasuke returned to the village. Given Orochimaru's reputation, it would be best to assemble a four-man squad of high-ranked Chūnin and/or Jōnin—"

"That's not going to happen. Unfortunately, we still don't have the resources to spare."

"Then, with all due respect, Hokage-sama, why am I here?"

"I heard about your performance in the Chūnin Exams. And what you did afterwards, during the invasion. There aren't many people who would make the decisions you made." Nara Shikamaru remained silent, aware that the Sannin hadn't finished her thought. "I need you to gather as many Genin as you can and return Sasuke to the village. I'm asking you to do this because I believe you're the only one who can see this mission through to a successful conclusion."

There was a moment of hesitation, the Chūnin seeming to weigh what he'd been asked, and then he nodded. "Yes Hokage-sama."

"You leave immediately. And if you're looking for recruits—" she picked up a piece of paper laying on her desk and handed it to him, "—I have a recommendation."

Brown eyes scanned the single sheaf. "Hokage-sama, according to this, he's not even a Genin."

"You're technically correct. But as you can see, his skills make him more than capable." Shikamaru's brow furrowed, though Tsunade didn't know the boy well enough to determine if it was out of annoyance, skepticism, or if he was just thinking. "You can find him at the main Senju compound on the east side of town."

Shikamaru sketched a bow to the blonde. "If you say so, Hokage-sama."

He turned and began to amble towards the door, stopping only at the call of his name. "I've seen my fair share of shinobi sacrificing themselves for the sake of the mission, just like you did. Come back with the shinobi you left with, and that's a success in my books. I've already buried more than enough kids to last a lifetime."

Shikamaru inclined his head in acknowledgment and left.

-l-l-l-

Author's Note: Kind of a filler, but necessary for setup, unfortunately. Rōshi's gem exercise for Yōton is meant to be the leaf-cutting equivalent to learning Fūton, my personal take on complex nature manipulation. As always, if you have any questions, I'm happy to respond in a PM. Let me know what you think!